People v. Willis

Defendant, Steve Willis, Jr., was charged with the crime of unlawful use of a weapon within five years of his release from the penitentiary following a conviction for a felony. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 38, par. 24— 1(b).) After a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant was found guilty of that charge. He was sentenced to a term of three to nine years. On appeal defendant contends that the procedure by which defendant’s prior conviction for a felony (armed robbery) was presented to the jury was fundamentally unfair, and that the State failed to prove him guilty of the crime…